Session 2 takeaway: Literary Launchpads — The Irish Journal Revolution

Hi everyone,

This post comes from my notes on the second session of the Irish Writers Centre Spring Publishing Day 2026.

This session, ‘Literary Launchpads: The Irish Journal Revolution’, focused on literary journals, editorial fit, submissions, and the role journals can play in a writer’s development and career. The panel featured Lauren O’Donovan from Howl, Liam Harrison from Tolka, and Eoin Rogers from The Stinging Fly.

One of the strongest takeaways for me was this:

✳️Literary journals are not just places to send work. They are communities, tastemakers, training grounds, and often the first real home for a writer’s voice.

A few things really stood out for me from this conversation:

✳️1. Read journals before you submit

This came through very clearly. Don’t just send work out into the void and hope for the best. Read the journals. Get a feel for their tone, taste, style, and editorial identity. The better you understand a journal, the better your chances of finding the right fit.

✳️2. Fit matters just as much as quality

A piece can be strong and still not be right for a particular journal. That doesn’t automatically mean the work has failed. Sometimes it’s timing. Sometimes it’s taste. Sometimes it simply belongs somewhere else.

✳️3. Rejection isn’t always a verdict

This was a useful reminder. A no is not always ‘this is bad’. Sometimes it’s ‘not for us’, ‘not now’, or ‘not in this form’. I think that’s a much healthier way to look at rejections.

✳️4. Editorial care matters

Good journals don’t just fill pages. They shape conversations, support writers, and build literary culture. There was a real sense in this session that these three journals are built not only on standards, but on care, attention, and commitment.

✳️5. Writers need community, not just courage

Submitting work can feel solitary, but writing life really shouldn’t be. Trusted readers, honest feedback, and being part of a literary community all matter. Your work usually gets stronger before submission when it has already been properly read.

What I took from this overall was that journals can do much more than give you a publication credit. They can help you understand your own voice, sharpen your standards, and start finding where your work belongs.

So maybe the question is not just:

🔸Where can I get published?

but also:

🔸Where does my work belong?

That feels like a much better question.

For anyone here who is submitting, hoping to submit, or simply trying to understand the publishing world a bit better, I think this is a really valuable place to start:

✳️Read more journals.

✳️Notice their personalities.

✳️Learn your own voice.

✳️And stop treating every rejection like a final judgement from the gods of literature 😅

#SpringPublishingDay2026 #LiteraryJournals

Be honest… what’s your current relationship with literary journals?

I read them regularly

I dip in now and then

I mostly remember them when I want to submit

Wait… I should be reading journals? 👀

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